Death Toll More Than U.s. Admits, Officials Say

50,000 Iraqis Reported Killed Since 2003

June 25, 2006|By Louise Roug and Doug Smith Los Angeles Times and Information from The New York Times was used in this report.

BAGHDAD — At least 50,000 Iraqis have died violently since the 2003 U.S.-led invasion, according to statistics from the Baghdad morgue, the Iraqi Health Ministry and other agencies -- a toll 20,000 higher than previously acknowledged by the Bush administration.

Many more Iraqis are believed to have been killed but have not been counted because of serious lapses in recording the number of deaths in the chaotic first year after the invasion, when there was no functioning Iraqi government, and continued spotty reporting nationwide.

The toll, which is dominated by civilians but probably also includes some security forces and insurgents, is daunting: Proportionately, it's as if 600,000 Americans had been killed nationwide during the past three years. In the same period, at least 2,520 U.S. troops have been killed in Iraq.

Iraqi government officials involved in compiling the statistics say violent deaths in some regions have been grossly undercounted, notably in the troubled province of Anbar, where local health workers often are prevented from compiling the data because of violence, security crackdowns, electrical shortages and failing telephone networks.

The Health Ministry acknowledged the undercount. In addition, the ministry said its figures exclude the three provinces that make up the semi-autonomous northern region of Kurdistan because Kurdish officials do not provide death toll figures to the government in Baghdad, the capital.

The Baghdad morgue received 30,204 bodies from 2003 through mid-2006, while the Health Ministry said it had documented 18,933 deaths from what was described as military clashes and terrorist attacks between April 5, 2004, and June 1, 2006. Taken together, the violent death toll reaches 49,173. But samples obtained from local health departments in other provinces show an undercount that brings the total number well beyond 50,000.

The Baghdad morgue records show a predominantly civilian toll; the hospital records gathered by the Health Ministry do not distinguish among civilians, combatants and security forces.

But Health Ministry records do differentiate among causes of death. Almost 75 percent of people who died violently were killed in what was classified as "terrorist acts," typically bombings, the records show. The other 25 percent were killed in what was classified as "military clashes."

On Saturday

Three soldiers killed: Three U.S. soldiers were reported killed in Baghdad, the military reported. In the past week, the Pentagon has released the names of 11 soldiers and six Marines killed in Iraq.